


A Little Help

by lilly_the_kid



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Manhandling, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:54:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29759241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilly_the_kid/pseuds/lilly_the_kid
Summary: Johnny took a step forward and almost fell. Daniel caught him just in time.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 12
Kudos: 77





	A Little Help

**Author's Note:**

> This is what I think might have happened, if the fight in 3.02 had gone a bit differently.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy!

Daniel saw Johnny go down, his head hitting the pavement. It felt like everything was happening in slowmotion. The last guy went down as well and Johnny was already getting up. Daniel was torn between questioning the other guy who was getting to his feet and helping Johnny. The guy took a look at him and ran for the door. Daniel made his choice.

"Johnny! Johnny, you ok?" Daniel walked towards him and reached out when it looked as if Johnny might fall over. That earned him a piercing glare.

"What the fuck are you doing?" 

Johnny took a step forward and almost fell. Daniel caught him just in time.

"Helping you. Apparently," he said, while rolling his eyes. Leave it to Johnny to be a dick about absolutely everything. 

"Yeah, well, I'm fine." Johnny tried to shrug off Daniel's arms. "So, there's no need to act like a fucking nurse maid."

"Oh, I think there is. You just hit your head pretty bad and no offence, but you didn't look great before all of this."

"Ouch, LaRusso. That's not exactly the most charming thing to say to a fella." Johnny actually had the nerve to wink at him. And there it was. That feeling he sometimes got when he had to deal with Johnny fucking Lawrence. That weird mixture of annoyance, amusement and undefinable third thing. Fondness, maybe? 

Daniel was ripped out of his thoughts when Johnny tried again to shrug him off. 

"Come on now, don't be a baby. Let me drive you home and I'll be out of your hair."

"What do you mean, drive me home? We haven't found him yet." 

"We have no idea where to look next and you need a break."

Daniel fully expected an argument. Maybe even some yelling or some insult flung at him. He couldn't quite believe it when Johnny nodded.

"Fine, ok. Just to get you to stop fussing like a little bitch." Ah, of course. That was more like it.

But Johnny did behave. He stopped struggling and got into the car. He even fastened his seatbelt.

"Turn your head." 

"What?"

"Come on, just do it." Daniel pushed Johnny forward in the seat and took a look at the back of his head. There wasn't any blood, so that was something. "Ok."

"You happy now?" Johnny leaned back, but Daniel noticed how careful he was.

"Ecstatic."

Daniel started the car. He expected Johnny to complain or just talk, but he was quiet. After a while Daniel couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Look, I'm sorry we didn't find Robby."

There was no response. Daniel looked over and saw that Johnny was asleep. Probably not the best idea, he might have a concussion after all.

"Hey!" Daniel smacked Johnny's arm. Nothing. He tried again. "Hey! Wake up!"

"Goddamnit, shut up."

"You shouldn't be sleeping. You might have a concussion."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You hit your head."

"Wasn't the first time. And it's not too bad. Leave me alone."

Daniel wanted to keep arguing, but there was something in Johnny's voice that gave him pause. He sounded exhausted and tired. But also sad. And lost. Almost defeated. It seemed as though keeping up his cocky attitude was his way of clinging to a feeling of control that he knew he had lost.

Daniel glanced over once more. Johnny had closed his eyes. The bruises on his face were even more prominent now and he was leaning against the door. He looked utterly beat and Daniel couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He pressed his lips together.

"Fine. Whatever." 

"Thank you," Johnny said with way more sarcasm than any other person would be able to manage.

"Yeah, well, if you die in my car I'll just kick your body out to the curb."

"You do you, LaRusso." 

They didn't talk for the rest of the drive. Daniel wasn't sure if Johnny was actually sleeping or just pretending to be so that he didn't have to talk. He decided it didn't matter.

\-------------

"We're here." Daniel turned off the engine and looked over at Johnny. 

Johnny stirred and opened his eyes. He looked around and seemed confused.

"You ok?" God, how often am I gonna keep asking this, Daniel thought.

There was a pause while Johnny was trying to open his seatbelt. Daniel watched him for a while. He lost patience and reached over to open it for him.

"I'm fine. Thanks for the ride." Johnny opened the door and got out of the car. He swayed for a moment and grabbed the almost torn off side-view mirror to steady himself.

"Shit," Daniel muttered and got out of the car as well. "Let me help you inside."

"I don't need your help." Johnny raised his hand to point at Daniel's face, but he had to put it back on the car immediately to keep from losing his balance. It was funny and sad at the same time.

"Sure, you don't. Just let me help you anyway for my own peace of mind, ok?"

Johnny narrowed his eyes and looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to feel like it's my fault when you crack your thick skull on the pavement." He expected another remark, maybe an insult. But Johnny just sighed.

"Fair enough. Wouldn't want you to worry your pretty little head because of me." 

There it was again, that feeling. That little flutter in his stomach. 

"Well?" Johnny looked at him expectantly.

"What?" Daniel had to force himself to concentrate.

"You gonna help me or what?" Johnny sounded amused, but mostly he seemed tired. 

"Sure." Daniel stood beside him and draped Johnny's arm over his shoulder. They walked over to the apartment. It took Johnny a while to open the door and Daniel allowed himself to enjoy being so close to him. To have him pressed against his side. For a good and perfectly normal reason. He felt disappointed when the door finally opened. 

He helped Johnny inside, walking him to the couch. Johnny sat down slowly, letting his head fall back. He closed his eyes and exhaled.

"Ok. Thanks so much. You can go now. Let's not do this again."

He should be fucking furious, but god help him, he was actually amused. And charmed? Could that be right? And he noticed that he didn't want to leave. He should. He totally should. But he didn't want to.

"Uh, you need anything? Can I get you something?"

Johnny opened his eyes and looked at him. There was something in his gaze that made Daniel feel as if he'd been caught. And that flutter in his stomach was back. There was a small smile showing on Johnny's face now.

"You can get me a beer. No, make it two."

"I really don't think you should be drinking now."

"Fine. I'll get it myself." Johnny moved to get up, but Daniel just held out his hands.

"No, don't. Ok, I'll get you a beer." Johnny's smile got bigger. Daniel felt himself blushing and he turned around quickly and walked to the fridge. What was he doing? Why was he humoring Johnny? Why was he even still here?

"What are you doing?" Johnny asked as Daniel handed over the beer. Daniel put the other can on the table and took a step back. 

"What do you mean? You told me to get you a beer." 

Johnny cracked open the can and drank down half of it. His eyes not leaving Daniel's face. He put it down and licked his lips.

"And since when do you just do what I tell you to do?" He smirked. "Not that I'm complaining." He finished the can and grabbed the other one.

Daniel couldn't help but stare at Johnny drinking the beer, his adam's apple was moving and he was still holding eye contact with Daniel. His mind went blank and all he could think was that he needed to get out right fucking now.

"You know what, I'm sure you can manage on your own now. So. Yeah. Bye."

Daniel turned around and walked to the door, inwardly cursing. How idiotic can you be, he thought. He reached for the door handle when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Before he could react Johnny turned him around and pushed him against the door. Daniel opened his mouth to protest, but then Johnny was kissing him and he didn't know what he'd meant to say. He kissed back and fought down the urge to try and understand what was happening. In fact he fought down any kind of thought. All there was now was Johnny's body pressed against his. Johnny's hands twisted in his shirt.

He grabbed Johnny's arms and turn them around. Johnny winced when his back hit the door and he doubled over, breaking up the kiss.

"What's wrong?" Daniel didn't know what to do. Part of him knew he should stop, but another part of him wanted to just ignore this and get back to what they were doing, back to not thinking.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," Johnny said and moved forward, clearly being in favor of option number two. Daniel put his hands on Johnny's waist, willing to go with it when Johnny flinched again. 

"That's it. What's wrong?" Daniel let go of Johnny and took a step back. Johnny carefully leaned back against the door, pressing one hand against it for balance.

"Nothing. I just- I hurt my back earlier, but it's fine. Seriously."

"Doesn't seem fine."

"Well, it is."

"Let me see."

"What? No. What the hell, LaRusso, way to kill the mood."

"I'm not the one flinching in pain, so if anyone's killing the mood here, it's you."

"I told you not to worry about it." The playfullness was gone. Johnny seemed genuinely mad now.

"Well, I am worried. You gonna let me take a look?"

"I don't want a fucking nurse maid, I told you that."

"What exactly do you want?" 

And that really was the question, wasn't it? Daniel felt like a dick for asking it. After all, it wasn't like he would be able to answer that. And he didn't really expect Johnny to have an answer, either.

"I don't know," Johnny said. There was no more anger in his voice. He just sounded exhausted. "Maybe just a distraction. It's been a pretty shitty day, you know." 

"And you thought making out with me would be the solution?"

Johnny scoffed.

"Of course not. But you seemed so, well, eager to help." He smirked and raised his hand when Daniel was about to interrrupt him. "And don't pretend you weren't into it."

"I'm not-"

"Yeah, you better not, because it's fucking obvious what you want."

Daniel shook his head. This was a mess. But it didn't feel like an outright catastrophe and that was- Nice. Weird, but nice.

"Ok, fair enough. I'm not gonna argue about that."

"Ok."

"Yeah. So, you gonna let me take a look at your back? You think you need to go to the hospital?"

"Already been to the hospital." But Johnny turned around and lifted up his shirt. 

Daniel stared at the gigantic bruise for a long time. 

"That, uh, that looks really bad."

"Yeah, no shit. Doesn't feel great, either." Johnny pulled his shirt back down and went over the couch. He sat down carefully.

"They give you something at the hospital?"

"Not exactly."

"What does that mean?"

"I mean, I was at the hospital, but I didn't really go there for treatment, more like to sneak in to see Miguel." He said the last part to softly Daniel almost didn't understand it. He was weirdly touched and extremely annoyed at the same time.

"So, you actually have no idea how bad you're hurt?"

"I wouldn't say no idea. I mean, I know it hurts like a bitch." 

Daniel took a deep breath. It was like talking to a kid. He couldn't believe he'd been kissing that guy only minutes ago. What had he been thinking? He went to the fridge and looked through it. He found some ice cubes and put them in a ziploc bag.

When he got back to the couch Johnny had lied down on his side. His eyes were closed. 

"Here." Daniel held out the ice. Johnny opened his eyes and took the bag. He awkwardly put it on his side.

"Thanks." 

"You're welcome." He wanted to say more. It felt like he should say more. Johnny looked tired and a bit lost, just like he had back in the car. There was no smirk now. No wink, no raised eyebrow. That moment had passed. Maybe it had been just that. A brief moment in which something could have happened, but ultimately didn't. A possibilty for distraction that hadn't come to pass. This might be true for Johnny, Daniel thought. But he knew it didn't really work for him. He still had that feeling when he looked at Johnny. That little flutter. And he was sure it wasn't about to go away anytime soon. He sighed.

"Ok, I should let you get some rest, I guess." He waited.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best." Daniel wasn't sure, but Johnny sounded disappointed.

"I'm gonna keep looking for Robby."

"You do that." Again that disappointed tone, almost perfectly disguised as neutral.

"I could come by tomorrow. Maybe you think of something and we can go looking again." God, that sounded lame. He felt like a teenager asking out his first crush. And wasn't that an unsettling thought?

"Ok." Johnny was watching him now. He was watching him very closely. There was a warmth in his gaze. Only for a moment, though. "Bring coffee," he added. 

"Sure." Daniel rolled his eyes, but he wasn't annoyed. "See you tomorrow." He left before he could say anything stupid. 

\-------------


End file.
